Wiktionary

zither

See also: Zither

English

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A zither

Etymology

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Borrowed from German Zither, from Old High German zithara, from Latin cithara, from Ancient Greek κιθάρα (kithára, “a kind of harp”). Doublet of cithara, cither, and guitar.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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zither (plural zithers)

  2. (music) A musical instrument consisting of a flat sounding box with numerous strings placed on a horizontal surface, played with a plectrum or fingertips.
  3. (music, translations) Related or similar instruments in other cultures, such as the Chinese guqin or Norwegian harpeleik; especially any chordophone without a neck, and with strings that pass over the body.

Derived terms

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Translations

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See also

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References

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Verb

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zither (third-person singular simple present zithers, present participle zithering, simple past and past participle zithered)

  1. To play a zither.
    • 1892, Edmund Gosse, chapter 3, in The Secret of Narcisse‎[1], New York: United States Book Company, page 100,102:
      […] the fluting began again. Not alone this time, but, to Rosalie’s infinite surprise, accompanied on a zither. […] At this moment the fluting and zithering began again.
    • 1906, William John Locke, chapter 9, in The Belovéd Vagabond‎[2], New York: John Lane, published 1911, pages 120–121:
      We wandered and fiddled and zithered and tambourined through France till the chills and rains of autumn rendered our vagabondage less merry.
    • 1999, Richard Hacken (translator), “Mary in Misery” by Peter Rosegger in Into the Sunset: Anthology of Nineteenth-Century Austrian Prose, Riverside, CA: Ariadne Press, pp. 413-414,[3]
      We traveled far and wide: he played the zither while I sang an accompaniment. […] He keeps zithering, and I sing like before, and before long we’ve put together a pretty good pile of money . . .
  2. To make a sound similar to that made by a zither; to move while making such a sound.
    • c. 1890, May Ostlere, Dead! London: Trischler, Chapter 3, p. 76,[4]
      Now [the wind] swithered through the badly-fixed windows, making zithering sounds as of an army of cold and frozen-out mosquitoes […]
    • 1956, Gerald Durrell, My Family and Other Animals‎[5], Penguin, published 2000, Part Two, Chapter 10, p. 123:
      The olives seemed weighed down under the weight of their fruit, smooth drops of green jade among which the choirs of cicadas zithered.
    • 1985, Kim Chapin, chapter 19, in Dogwood Afternoons‎[6], New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, page 178:
      Once I owned a bike […] It had no fenders and one gear only, and on the forks, both fore and aft, I clipped some plastic playing cards to zither loudly through the spokes.
    • 1996, Carl Huberman, chapter 38, in Eminent Domain‎[7], London: Macmillan, page 328:
      ‘Look at that!’ she shouted, already backing up the Jeep, its tyres zithering on the crusty surface.
    • 2004, Matt Braun, chapter 15, in Black Gold‎[8], New York: St Martin’s Paperbacks, page 158:
      The other men opened fire with pistols, slugs zithering past him with a dull whine.
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